One Date
by Never-strike-twice
Summary: Set after the Atlantis Complex, this is the story of the 'one date' Holly and Trouble have. Please R & R, it's better than this, I just can't write summaries.
1. Chapter 1

**This short story is set just before the Atlantis Complex, and is the story of the 'one date' Holly went on with Trouble. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Artemis Fowl books, Eoin Colfer does. Pity, really.**

Holly was sitting in the officers' club after work on Friday enjoying a nettle smoothie and catching up with some friends within the LEP. Well, I say friends, and if friends were people who could respect your work, but only listen to what you say so that they can gossip about you afterwards, then that's what they were.

The conversation began to feel awkward. Someone had asked about her different coloured eyes. Not an easy question to answer, or one that Holly really wanted to. But she knew that if she told them that, they would wonder and make assumptions, which was something that she could really do without. The silence dragged on as Holly tried to think of something to say.

At that moment, Commander Trouble Kelp came over. He asked, in his usual blunt, military tone,

"Holly, can I borrow you for a minute?" Holly was delighted to escape from the conversation. She jumped up and apologised (insincerely, as she wasn't the slightest bit sorry) to her friends, and followed the Commander to a couple of chairs a short distance away.

Only then did she begin to wonder what e wanted to talk to her about. She guessed from his tone that it would be something work-related, and sighed internally. Trouble was one of the most dedicated officers in the LEP, and it wouldn't be the first time he had brought her job outside work hours for Holly. Keeping this in mind, she addressed him by rank:

"Commander, what was it, you wanted to speak me about?" Trouble looked surprised. This may have been something to do with the fact that Holly rarely addressed him by rank at work, let alone in the officers' club.

"Since when have you called me Commander?"

"Sorry Trouble. Seemed appropriate, since you looked pretty serious." Trouble relaxed and he grinned.

"Maybe I should seem a bit more like that at work."

"Maybe. But what did you actually want to talk to me about?" Trouble began to shuffle his feet, looking awkward.

"I just wanted to ask if maybe you'd want to, um, go out to dinner with me tomorrow night."

Holly looked Trouble up and down. She had never seen him look this nervous, and she had seen him when his life and/or the security of the People were at stake. Suddenly holly began to laugh.

"You got in to that much of a state just to ask me out? Sure, of course I'll go with you. Where are we meeting, and what time?"

"I can pick you up at eight at your place, if it suits"

"Great."

"I'm going now, but I'll probably see you before that, anyway."

"Trouble, we work in the same building, and you're my superior. I see you every day."

"True. Bye!" Trouble left the officers' club grinning. Holly's friends were staring at her curiously, so she decided that she should also beat a hasty exit. She left, feeling happier than she had in weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Artemis Fowl series or any of the characters in it. **

**Not sure about this chapter. Please read and review!**

Holly Short arrived home the next day at a quarter to eight. A normal woman arriving home fifteen minutes before their date was due to arrive would be in a state of panic, knowing that she had only a quarter of an hour to find the perfect combination of high heels, dress and makeup, put it on and do their hair.

Holly, however, would not be seen dead in high heels, a dress or makeup, and knew that there was very little she could do with her short auburn hair. Still, tonight she intended to be at her most girly, so she put on tight black jeans and a black vest covered by a purple and blue check shirt. On her feet she wore flat black trainers. This was as girly as Holy would voluntarily get, and she was ready in just under five minutes she put a mint in her mouth, and sat down in an armchair to have a short rest until Trouble arrived.

The reason Holly had got back so late was that she had had an unbelievably busy day, involving fifteen arrests and several long chases. For this reason, Holly was exhausted. It was the first chance she had had to sit down all day, and she had woken up an hour earlier than usual to make a start on some paperwork, which had been building up over the past few weeks.

It took Holly under a minute to be fast asleep. She was not even woken up by Trouble ringing her doorbell at exactly eight O'clock. After waiting ten minutes, Trouble began to worry. It wasn't like Holly to be late. He had Holly's spare house key, which she had given him in case she left her key at home. He dug it out of his wallet and let himself in.

Holly was sitting in an armchair close to the door fast asleep, snoring quietly. Her knees were curled into her chest, and the shirt she was wearing had slipped off her shoulders, revealing muscled, brown forearms. The look on her face was peaceful, almost childlike. It was possibly the only time Trouble had seen her looking vulnerable.

"Holly?" he said quietly. No reaction. He reached forward and gently shook her by the shoulder. Holly opened one eye.

Holly was woken to the sight of Trouble' anxious face, inches from hers. It took her less than a second to work out what had happened. She sat up, instantly awake.

"Frond, Trouble, I'm so sorry! Have you been waiting long?"

"No, not at all. Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a bit tired." Holly shrugged her shirt back on.

"A bit tired? You fell asleep in an armchair in a freezing cold hallway. You must be exhausted. We can rearrange dinner for some other time, you just go to bed."

"I'm fine."

"No you're not. Look, why don't I just cook something for us here? Then, if you do fall asleep on your plate, at least it won't end up in the news."

Holly laughed.

"OK, but I'm cooking."

"Can you cook?"

"No. Can you?"

"No. Let's see what we can do."

As it turned out, they were both being completely honest when they said they couldn't cook. After discovering that Holly had literally no food in her house, they gave up and ordered a pizza. Then they settled down on Holly's tiny sofa to chat while they waited for it to arrive.

Conversation was a little slow; due to the fact that they were both exhausted (Trouble had been just as busy as Holly). Neither of them really minded, simply taking pleasure from one another's company. Of course, they almost always had each other's company, but the lack of crime was relaxing, if a bit dull. After a while, both stopped talking, and they sat in a comfortable silence, each immersed in their own thoughts.

Their thoughts were remarkably similar. Both wondering how they got so lucky, and enjoying not being alone. Both of them were alone a lot, having extremely busy work lives. Trouble was thinking how long it had been since he had been with a woman (it had been all of three weeks) and wondering if...

Holly was thinking how long it had been since she had even kissed a man. Thinking back, she realised that her last kiss had been Artemis, and, fond as she was of him, it was not an experience she was eager to repeat. Trouble, on the other hand...

Holly's thoughts were still running along these lines when her exhaustion hit her again, and she fell asleep.

Trouble's train of thought was broken by Holly's head slumping against his chest. He grinned tiredly. Holly was different to his usual girls. Not a slut. Suddenly he wished that he could have taken her out to dinner as he had planned: she deserved better than pizza on her own couch. Maybe next time. He closed his eyes and listened to Holly's quiet snoring, thinking that he would stay awake until the pizza was delivered.

Holly's snores were slow and steady. The rhythm was soothing, lulling Trouble into sleep. Barely conscious, he put his arm around Holly. She snuggled closer to him. He rested his cheek gently against her fiery hair and pressed the lightest of kisses onto the top of her head. He closed his eyes again.

Nobody answered the door for the pizza. In the morning they would find it lying stone cold on the doorstep. But for now, they were dead to the world.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm really not sure about this chapter. Please read and review.**

Holly woke to the ringing of an alarm clock. Without opening her eyes, she prayed that it would stop. By some miracle, it did. Holly realised that she was freezing cold. She snuggled closer to the warm body next to her, and went back to sleep.

When she and Trouble arrived at work, five hours later, it was to find an _extremely _curious and rather amused looking Foaly waiting for them. Luckily for Trouble, he was led away by Chix Verbil, with some apparently important business. It was possibly the only time Trouble had been pleased to see the green, cocky sprite. He practically sprinted after him in his haste to get away, leaving Holly to deal with Foaly's curious questions alone.

Foaly dragged Holly into his office and began firing questions at her.

"What's going on with you and Trouble? More importantly, why didn't you tell me?"

"Foaly, we've had _one date._ And I didn't tell you because I knew you'd overreact."

"Am I overreacting?" Foaly shouted.

"Yes."

"Okay, maybe I am. But I think you're passing through this a little quickly. You went on _one date_ and he spent the night at your house? I would never exactly say you had class, but I didn't realise you were that desperate."

"How do you know he spent the night at my house?"

"I've seen you forget to wear uniform, but there is no way Trouble would come in normal clothes, _or _four hours late. By the way, even for you, that's impressive. But once again, I think you've missed the point."

"Foaly, I did not sleep with Trouble. Frond, I didn't even kiss him! He fell asleep at my house, that's IT!"

"Am I allowed to tell everyone about this?"

"Does everyone mean Artemis?"

"No. I get enough stick as it is. And anyway, we went on one date. Not exactly the biggest cause for excitement ever."

"Well... the papers are always interested in new stories about you."

"You wouldn't do that to me."

"True, I wouldn't. I'm your friend, and Trouble's my superior. I quite like my job, actually."

Holly sighed.

"No, Foaly, I meant you wouldn't do that because if you did, I would use you as a punch bag for the next _year._ I have a feeling that you wouldn't survive the experience."

Foaly took an involuntary step back.

"I have a feeling you're right."

"I told you that you wouldn't tell."

"You didn't need to threaten me, I already said I wouldn't."

"I know I didn't need to. It was fun."

"But supposing it just... slipped out when I was talking to Artemis next week?"

"You wouldn't do that."

"Why not? You can't kill me before then, he asked for me especially. You'd lose your job."

"Okay, I'll buy you enough carrots for a week."

Foaly looked unimpressed.

"Fine... two weeks. But that's the highest I'm going, I can't afford more than that."

"Okay, then. I'll make a conscious effort not to tell Artemis."

"Good."

"Holly, do you want to hear about the new mee-pee I invented."

"Um... sorry, Foaly, got to go. I'm four hours late, remember?"

"Oh, I'm sure your superior won't mind."

"I think he will, actually. He's never been late for work before."

"Fine then. Bye."

"Bye."

Holly ran out of the office, hoping to get well away before Foaly thought of anything else to say. She sprinted up to her office and, for the first time in her life, feeling committed to getting some paperwork sorted, sat down in her chair. Only to get up very abruptly when she realised that there was already someone sitting in it.

Holly jumped up so fast that she banged heads with them and fell sprawling on the floor. She looked up, to find herself staring into Trouble's violet eyes.

"You really should look where you're going." He said, giving her a hand up.

"Well, it's a bit of a shock to come into my office to find somebody already sitting at my desk."

"Fair enough. You're still alive, I see. Is Foaly?"

"Yep."

"Oh. How much did you bribe him with?"

"Two weeks' worth of carrots."

"Oh. I came to tell you that I think I owe you something from last night."

"You don't owe me anything, we didn't even go –" The rest of her sentence was cut off by Trouble's mouth, soft and gentle on hers. Letting thoughts go for the time being, she kissed him back.

When they finally ran out of air, Holly looked on the verge of collapsing back onto the floor. Trouble pulled her onto his lap.

"I was wondering, would you like to come out again sometime?" He, too, was feeling shocked. He had come in to tell Holly he felt he owed her another date. It was the look in her eyes that had made him kiss her. She had looked strangely vulnerable, but at the same time, proud and tough.

"After that? Sure, I'd love to." Holly twisted round to see Trouble's face. "You look worried."

"I am, a bit. I'm not used to second dates. My girls don't tend to last that long."

"Maybe the difference is that I'm not one of 'your girls'. I should warn you now, I never will be. _Anybody's _girl." Holly said, suddenly fierce.

Trouble grinned. He could tell already that this was one relationship he was going to enjoy.

He bent down to whisper in her ear.

"Well, that's not fair. I'm your man, after all."

Holly grinned.

"Who said I was fair?"

Grinning again, Trouble said

"As much as I love our banter, I think you have work to do, and I know you do. I'll come and find you later, I left my wallet at your place."

And with another gentle kiss, he left.

Holly sat still for a while after he had gone, staring at the door.

One date...she thought...I told Foaly one date...

...Well, it's not a lie...yet.

**This was meant to be the last chapter, but I'm really enjoying writing about these two. Please tell me whether or not to continue. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!**


	4. Chapter 4

Several weeks later

"She was a good elf, and she died making our world a better place. She will be remembered."

Trouble stopped talking, and sat down abruptly. Of all his duties as commander, he liked his role at memorial services the least. Especially this one. For the second time in his life, he felt the death of an officer cut him to the quick.

He looked behind him. Holly sat completely still, her eyes shut. People began to file out of the packed room. Many were sniffing, a few even crying openly.

Trouble took a deep breath. Root's death and now Vinyáya's. It was too much, hurt him too deeply. For the first time in his life, he could not summon the willpower to get back to work.

Soon Holly and he were the only people left in the room. Holly had not moved. Trouble, with a huge effort of will, stood up and moved to sit next to her. Without saying anything, he put his arms around her.

Slowly, she relaxed into his embrace, and he felt her head rest against his chest. Looking down at her auburn head, Trouble at last began to cry.

He lost all sense of time, not seeing the worker sent by Foaly to look for him, not even feeling anything as Holly began to shake in his arms, and his shirt was slowly soaked.

He saw Vinyáya, standing with Root on his first day. Not smiling, but faintly amused, as if she could see a joke in the situation.

He saw Root's purple face as he once again lectured him for breaking regulations whilst on the surface.

As images passed through his head, he remembered all that he had lost, not just with Vinyáya's death, but with Root's.

Finally, he saw Holly's face, as it had been at the start of the ceremony. Pale, sad, yet at the same time determined.

Suddenly, he remembered the woman in his arms, and turned towards her, knowing he would do anything to keep her safe.

Trouble had expected the shaking to slow down and stop after a while, but it continued. He began to worry about Holly. He had never seen her cry before, and now she didn't seem to be able to stop. He gently placed two fingers under her chin, and lifted her face up towards his.

"How are you doing?" he asked quietly, not wanting to upset her further.

Holly did not reply. Tears streamed down her face, and choking, hiccupping sobs made speech impossible. In any case, she showed no inclination to speak, but pressed her face back against Trouble's chest and tightened her arms around him.

Trouble sat quietly after that, pressing his lips against Holly's hair, and rubbing a hand on her back, in the hope that he could comfort her with his presence. Eventually, after what felt like an extremely long time, Holly began to mumble against his chest. Her sobs did not slow, and she struggled to make herself understood.

"My fault," she was sobbing, "it was my fault! I could have saved her! I should have. I could have stopped her."

At last, Trouble fully understood what was upsetting Holly. Taking her carefully, but firmly, by the shoulders, he looked her straight in the eye.

"Holly, you know just as well as I do that it wasn't your fault. You did your best. If you had tried to stop her, you would have been killed. D'arvit, you nearly _were_ killed! It's a miracle that you survived as it is, so stop beating yourself up about it. You couldn't have done any more, and Vinyáya wouldn't have wanted you to."

"But I should have talked her out of it. I could have got her out of the way."

"Neither you nor I nor anyone I've ever met could change Vinyáya' mind once she had decided something."

Holly stopped talking. She just held Trouble as if he was the only solid thing in the world, as her sobs slowed and, eventually, subsided. Trouble held Holly close for a few moments more, and then relaxed his grip.

"We should probably get to our desks."

Holly looked at him in disbelief, and even managed a weak chuckle.

"Are you joking? My desk is a work station, for Frond's sake!"

"Really? I never knew you to be particularly organised. Or hard-working, for that matter. You hate paperwork."

"I mean it's where work stops."

"Oh. That makes sense. But I have work that I need to do anyway."

Holly looked at him.

"I think you may need to change your shirt. Sorry about that."

Trouble pinched his white shirt between finger and thumb. The fabric was soaked through, and almost completely transparent."

"I think you're right. D'arvit. That means I'm going to have to go home, at least to change. I don't have a spare shirt with me." He grinned ruefully. In fact, he was rather relieved to have an excuse to go home. He wasn't sure he _could _work after that service. His thoughts kept finding their way back to Vinyáya, however hard he tried to think about other things.

Holly shivered convulsively, making Trouble frown. The room was warm. He made a split second decision.

"I don't think you're well enough to work. In the nicest possible way, you look terrible. Come back to my place with me and have a coffee. Get some rest. You deserve a break. After all, you've done an awful lot recently."

"Can't I just go back to my place?"

"No. I don't want you doing anything stupid, and I think you need company right now."

"OK."

Trouble was surprised. He had expected Holly to put up more resistance. Then he looked at her face, and realised that she couldn't bare a day of work today any more than he could. She looked as though she would be reassured by his company, just as he was by hers, but maybe he was just flattering himself.

Taking her hand, Trouble guided Holly gently out of the building. They got a few raised eyebrows, but most people seemed unconcerned by the fact that two senior Recon officers were leaving in the middle of the day. Holly found out later that Foaly had sent someone round to tell people to leave them alone. She wasn't sure if this was him being caring or simply some kind of private joke, but she appreciated it none the less.

Holly wanted nothing more than to be held tight. She was feeling weak, an exceptionally unusual feeling for her, and in Trouble's arms she had felt protected from the world, as if nothing could reach her. But she didn't want to look pushy or needy, so for the moment she was content with the grip of Trouble's warm hand on her cold one, as they walked back to his home.


	5. Chapter 5

**I know I haven't updated this for an unbelievably long time, but I've had a bit of a block. I've opened documents and tried to write it at least 5 times. Well, here it is. Enjoy, and please review!**

Trouble stood up, preparing to leave his office after a long, hard boring day with no adrenaline and plenty of paperwork. It was the kind of day he truly hated. The worst bit was getting home and not even being tired enough to legitimately collapse into bed.

Walking past Holly's office, he decided to pop in for a moment. A conversation with Holly was exactly what he needed – his day needed brightening up a little. Predictably, Holly was also packing up. She glanced at Trouble as he came through the door.

"Hi," he said, "What are you doing this evening?"

"I was going to head for the gym. I've had so much paperwork that I've had no exercise _all day._ Do you want to come?"

Trouble grinned at Holly's idea of 'no exercise'. She had run to work this morning, and had probably spent so much of the day punching the office furniture in frustration that it should really count as a workout. Holly saw him smiling.

"What?" She said, annoyed. Trouble gave her a curious look. He hadn't noticed that he'd been doing anything odd. "You're grinning like an idiot."

"Oh, just... nothing."

"And really? I know you well enough to know that weird faces are usually brought on by something."

Trouble shook his head to himself. Holly would probably never let go of this if he didn't stop her from getting into full swing. Holly had stood up to get her bag. Trouble flung himself into her chair and, grabbing her, pulled her into his lap. Before she could open her mouth again Trouble was kissing her. At first just to shut her up, then because he couldn't quite bring himself to stop. She surrendered far too quickly; in fact, so fast that Trouble was almost suspicious of some ulterior motive. But then, as occasionally happened, he let his ego take over, and assumed that she was simply blown away by his kissing ability.

Before he knew what was going on, Trouble was on the floor, and Holly was sitting in her chair, kicking her legs in an infuriatingly self-satisfied way.

"Please don't change the subject."

Trouble picked himself up. He really should have seen this coming, he reminded himself. This was what happened if you chose to date Holly Short.

"That counts as changing the subject? I would have put that down as closer to ending the conversation," he replied, slightly incredulously.

"You see? I was right. You _did_ have an ulterior motive! But I'll remember that – maybe I should start more conversations that you feel the need to end abruptly!"

Trouble grinned despite his annoyance. His damaged pride instantly repaired itself. Now _this_ was a conversation he wanted to continue.

"How do you end a conversation?" He began teasingly, hoping for the kind of reply he was picturing.

"That depends who with. If it's someone I actually like, I leave. If not, a punch in the throat usually has the desired effect. And _back to the subject_, why were you grinning like an idiot?"

Well, that was disappointing. Not only had her reply been a little on the normal (well, normal for Holly, anyway) side, but they had managed to get back to the point he had been trying so desperately to avoid.

"I honestly can't remember. I think it was just something stupid."

As he said this, Holly studied him intently. He fidgeted: how was it that he could take interrogation by even the fiercest of the People, but Holly could make him feel uncomfortable as easily as blinking? Maybe slightly easier, actually. It didn't appear to take any conscious thought...

"Did you know that your left eyelid twitches slightly when you lie?" At this, Trouble felt his face grow red. Holly laughed lightly. "You're starting to look like Root. Thinking about it, I'm not really that sure I want to know. Are you coming to the gym?"

"Sure, why not? I could do with some exercise."

Holly grabbed her bag, and Trouble draped his arm loosely over her shoulder. She wrapped hers around his waist, and they made to leave. At that moment, Holly's personal communicator bleeped. She took it out, and quickly read the message she had just received. From what Trouble could see, it was only a couple of lines.

Suddenly, Holly ducked out from under Trouble's arm, and began bashing her head against the nearest wall.

"D'arvit. D'arvit. D'arvit d'arvit d'arvit." Trouble grabbed her by the shoulders, worried that even Holly with her high pain threshold might do herself damage.

"What's up?"

"During my last mission with Artemis, Foaly may have 'accidentally' let slip about our date. I was kind of hoping that because of all the therapy and stuff to recover from his Atlantis Complex, Artemis might have forgotten, but..."

"...He's Artemis Fowl," Trouble finished her sentence for her. "But what's the big deal?"

"...Have you ever been at the wrong end of Artemis' mockery? It knows no bounds, I swear! And somehow he's found out that we're still dating. How the hell does he know that? I mean, even Foaly has no idea, and Artemis is miles away and has just been released from hospital, for Frond's sake!"

"I repeat: he's Artemis Fowl."

"He's threatening to tell Foaly. I don't think he'll actually do it, but it's just infuriating!"

"It's not the end of the world – what's the worst he can do?" Trouble leaned in to kiss Holly; this conversation really needed to come to an end. It looked like it was going to work, but then Holly backed away again, swearing so creatively that Trouble was almost impressed.

"No, but you know what might be the end of the world?"

"No."

"We forgot to disable the security cameras in my office today. Artemis doesn't need to tell Foaly. He already knows."

"D'arvit."

"There you go. D'you want to give the gym a miss, and spend the time trying to keep Foaly quiet with death threats instead?"

"Sounds like a plan."

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please please **_**please**_** review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Once again, I'm sorry it's taken me a while to update, but my friend put such disturbing ideas in my head that I couldn't even think about Artemis Fowl for a bit. Well, enjoy, anyways.**

Holly and Trouble were sitting at a table in a restaurant, enjoying dinner like the normal couple that they weren't. They ordered dessert, and prepared themselves for yet another long wait. This place served fantastic food, but was incapable of preparing it at a vaguely reasonable speed. Holly was cursing that fact at this moment, using every foul word in her impressively large vocabulary. And that was just in Gnomish. If it were not for the fact that her boyfriend was listening with some amusement and not a little respect, she would have moved on to other languages. Trouble was asking questions that she _really really _didn't want to answer.Predictable questions.

"Who was the last person you kissed before me?" A normal question. One that Holly would have asked herself, had she been in the slightest bit bothered which slut Trouble had had his most recent drunken night with. She wasn't jealous...why should she be? It wasn't like the idea of Trouble with someone else made her want to punch the hypothetical someone. Or had she not been so worried that she might be asked the same thing in response.

"For Frond's sake, Trouble, you had to ask the one question I don't want to answer." Holly tried to make this sound jokey. She failed. Miserably. She had never been destined for a career in any form of drama.

"Oh d'arvit, it's my brother isn't it?" The man across the table recoiled visibly at this. The thought of Holly with another person was enough to make him clench his fists under the table, without adding his _brother_ into the equation.

"Don't take this personally, but EW! No. Can we just drop it?" Holly closed her eyes tight, trying to remove the foul images from her mind.

Well, that was a relief. Especially as it was a pretty strong response. The thought had made him feel ill for a second there. Naturally, Trouble was curious as to who this person was. Well, maybe curious is the wrong word. Dying to know was slightly closer, but perhaps not quite strong enough. However, he had, as usual, found a way to turn this situation to his advantage.

"Sure. On one condition."

Holly had let her guard down. Not having to answer the question was getting off lightly, as far as she was concerned. What was the worst thing that Trouble could say? She said something that she might well regret.

"Whatever you like."

Trouble leaned in so close to Holly that she could feel his breath tickling the end of her nose. In any other situation, which could not involve her impending doom, this would have been fairly distracting to Holly. Or indeed to most women and not a few men in Haven.

"You have to answer three. More. Questions. About _anything_." Holly's face became visibly paler. Ok, maybe there were worse things than having to answer the original question. The chances of Trouble playing nice and asking something she could answer and still look him in the eye afterwards seemed next to nil. She took a deep breath.

"Fire away."

"What's your most ridiculous fear?" Trouble was interested, but effectively biding his time. He had one very good idea, and was prepared to work his way up to it slowly. After all, it would still be ages before the food reached them.

Holly was suspicious. That question was far too easy. There had to be a point to this somewhere just out of sight. This question wasn't even _interesting_, just a bit silly.

"Someone hearing me sing in the shower."

"Yeah, that really is ridiculous. You sing in the shower? I have to hear that sometime."

"You are a horrible, cruel person who is making fun of my fears."

"You love me really."

"That does not affect any of my aforementioned points in any way, shape or form. Why? I bet you have a more ridiculous fear. Clearly massively overcompensating." Trouble had smirked after Holly's affirmation of his own statement, and paid slightly less attention to the rest of what she was saying. His girlfriend glared at him. If only his smirk was a _bit_ less attractive.

"I still have two more questions, remember?"

"D'arvit." _Why_ did her clever attempt to distract him from his questioning not work? He had completely ignored her change of subject, and ploughed straight on. Sure, it might have been a tad transparent, but it deserved _some_ credit, or at least recognition.

"How much time did you spend thinking about me before I asked you out?"

"So self-assured. What would you do if I told you I didn't think about you at all?"

"Assume you were lying, probably." So cocky. _So gorgeous._ Holly grinned, but it slid off her face pretty quickly when she remembered that she actually had to answer the question. And his answer had just taken out her last means of escape. Given that she had to answer, she did her best to be as vague as it is possible to be without lying.

"Let's just say that you were the main reason that my paperwork didn't get done very fast when I sat down to do it. Well, that and the fact that I hate doing it." No need to boost his ego _too_ much.

Finally, Trouble had had enough of ridiculous games and stupid questions. It didn't even matter that her answer had pleased him no end. He was impatient. He moved until his mouth was against Holly's ear, barely resisting the urge to bite the pointed end, and whispered his final question. Uncharacteristically, a blush rose in Holly's cheeks. She nodded.

When the desserts arrived, unusually quickly, three minutes later, the chairs were empty, one pushed back until it almost hit the nearest table, the other knocked over in haste. The only sign that two people had been eating there was a pile of notes large enough to cover the price of the meal.

**Ok, I'm not really sure about this. So please review and tell me whether or not I should just rewrite the whole thing.**


	7. NOTE

**I'm really really sorry, but this story will not be continued beyond this point due to the fact that the outcome of Holly and Trouble's relationship was described in the final Artemis Fowl book, causing my imagination to collapse around my ears. Please have a look at some of my other stories, and I'll start something new soon.**


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